SXSW Day Two (Thursday)

Thursday
We had every intention of going downtown and trying to catch either Kim Richey or Billy Bragg and Carrie Rodriguez, and did succeed with the "going downtown" part of it. A combination of active construction, day party street closures, normally free lots charging money, and people actually trying to work in their offices (it was a weekday, after all), we had one hell of a frustrating time just driving around, much less finding a nice free parking space. So... we ditched those plans and headed to south Austin.

Click here to see lots more pics or to see any of these bigger.

Started at Opal Divine's Penn Field where we saw Jo Carol Pierce (with Mark Andes) and the Jitterbug Vipers (pictured below):

Then we went over to The Enchanted Forest where they were have a music party and an art fair. We had seen only the edge of this place before, where DaVine Foods is, and maybe a little beyond. We were stunned at how large and beautiful that place was back behind the gates. I would describe it on this day as if Elrond had decided to locate Rivendell in the heart of South Austin and construct it from found objects -- and Vilya, his Ring of Power, could not have conjured up any better weather! Also, it's hard to imagine a LESS-corporate event than this one. Such a relief. Do check out more of these on the photobucket link above. You're not in Kansas anymore:

Oh yes, and there were bands! Pictured below is Buttercup from San Antonio. All the bands we saw were really good. From the UK, there was Hey Negrita, Alabama3, and People in Planes. From Spain there was Jet Lag. From Austin, The Summer Wardrobe and Dustin Welch. We ran into a band we saw Wednesday, Blue Mountain, and got to chat with Cary Hudson, the guitar player. He was there to see his friend Tommy Womack from Nashville, and was right about him -- he is quite a songwriter.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music - SXSW

SXSW Day One (Wednesday)

WednesdayStarted out (noon) at the Bandango Party at Yard Dog where we saw John McNicholas and grabbed some (free) beer. Look at these adorable young fiddlers on So. Congress.

 

We watched Mason Jennings at Jo's and headed over to the big Guitartown party at Mother Egan's. The 5 hours we spent there were spent listening to really solid outstanding Americana, alt-country, or alt-what-have-you bands. We saw Tom Freund, Shawn Mullins (first time to see him and he was awesome! Watch the video for "Beautiful Wreck" below)

Jon Dee Graham played a hard rocking set and was absolutely great! I was not familiar with Chip Robinson, Eric Ambel, and Blue Mountain (more about them in Thursday's post) but we really enjoyed them a lot (it's so nice, if you don't travel, when these things come to your doorstep as they do during SXSW). Then came the late addition to the lineup: Bela Fleck, appearing as part of Abigail Washburn's Sparrow Quartet, which also features Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee! All outstanding musicians. Bela must be the best banjo player in the world. What a treat to have seen all these folks at such close range, in the daylight but in the shade, and merely for the price of a couple of glasses of Guiness.

The Sparrow Quartet was a bit late showing up, so we were very pressed for time in getting over to the Austin Music Hall for the Music Awards (we were on foot, which isn't necessarily slower considering the parking situation).

Lots of upsets and surprises in the Awards themselves, enough for a whole new topic. The show was held in the newly-remodeled Austin Music Hall, which sucks as much as ever, in our opinions. Same bad acoustics and they've added a mezzanine with a shaky railing, so big whoop.

Show highlights:
Lyle Lovett, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Colin Gilmore performed with offspring and relations of Uncle Walt's Band (the talent is inherited).

Gary Clark Jr. WOW! OK, I really hope this kid is the "next big thing out of Austin." We have been seeing him in these clubs since he was too young to be in them. He was damned good back then, playing traditional blues styles, but has really blossomed with his own style in the past year or so. He appears in the 2007 movie Honeydripper (dir. John Sayles, starring Danny Glover).

Also in the show... The Judys and a set with indie sensations Okkervil River with Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators) sitting in.

Spoon made a major sweep at the Awards, and on our way out of the Hall, we were right by Britt Daniel of Spoon, so we got to shake hands and congratulate him. That was pretty cool. Then we hoofed it back to the car... 10 blocks... but we can't complain about free parking. A great kickoff day!!
Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music - SXSW

SXSW music this week

It's here! The biggest music festival in the world, SXSW music. There are maybe 1600 official artist showcases and impossible to determine how many bands without showcases are playing the day/side parties. We don't get wristbands, we found out that there's plenty of free (or reeeally cheap) stuff going on, and every year there are more and more "side" parties. This is the best all-round guide to those that I've found, and here's another listing, but there's not one list that includes them all... not one.

We are probably starting the whole thing tonight. Blogging and visiting other blogs will be light to nearly non-existent until this week is over, so until then we will see you at the Continental Club, Yard Dog's alley, Mother Egan's, Opal Divine's, Enchanted Forest, Maria's Taco Express, or Jo's. I'll be back here maybe on Sunday unless I get a breather.

Shown is Octopus Project, taken last year at Jo's Coffee. She is playing the theramin.

Olympic-sized cruelty

[LINK] Another heartbreaking animal story out of China. They are rounding up cats by the thousand and sending them to death camps... and not for euthanasia... if not killed outright they are left to die of neglect. People are being told that the cats are spreading diseases and must be eliminated. There is mass paranoia over it, so that people are throwing their animals out to be collected or even killing them themselves. 6 cats (including 2 pregnant females) were beaten to death with sticks by Kindergarten teachers who feared for the children. The cat population of Beijing that is at risk of extermination is 500,000. It is suspected by many to merely be a step in "cleaning up the place" for the Olympics, as other measures, such as shipping the street people away to camps, are being taken.

This animal paranoia and extermination is not a new thing. Back in 2006, after 3 people died from rabies in a certain county in China, 50,000 dogs were slaughtered. Only 3% of dogs are vaccinated against the disease there.

Irony and (more) lies

This doesn't mean much, but it's kinda funny. The stock footage of the girl they used for the Hillary "it's 3 A.M. and the phone is ringing" ads is now nearly 18 and a strong supporter of Obama! In fact, she's been campaigning for him and even served as a precinct captain.

Heard on News8Austin. More info at DailyKos.

And... whoops!!! Caught in a lie about her experience -- from the debate in Ohio [full transcript]:

CLINTON: Well, I have put forth my extensive experience in foreign policy, you know, helping to support the peace process in Northern Ireland, negotiating to open borders so that refugees fleeing ethnic cleansing would be safe, [...]

The truth [LINK]:

Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a "wee bit silly" for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province.

The ups and downs of just doing it

We rented Into The Wild this week, neither of us had read the book but we had heard about Chris McCandless's story in the media back when it happened. It's a story that stirs up strong emotions in nearly everyone, although not universally the same ones. Some people feel angry because someone -- a young, intelligent person of great integrity who deserted many people who cared, as well as great potential in life -- has caused his own death through naivete, unpreparedness, or some would say stupidity. Others are filled with admiration and struck by the sheer nerve of a person who dared go to great lengths including the sacrifice of creature comforts to pursue his dreams, and unfortunately made the ultimate sacrifice.

This wiki entry outlines the basic story of both the book and the movie, as well as some of the cultural impact. The pic to the right shows the real McCandless in a shot he took of himself that was found later undeveloped in his camera. He is holding a farewell note to the world that he wrote when he knew that his death was certain.

Here is an excellent blog post on the movie and on Chris, written by an Alaskan, with some good comments.

I don't view him as either a hero or a fool. Young people can be very passionate about making their dreams come true, they can be fearless and tend to think they are immortal, or they are willing to die to prove a point. A person with such a strong drive can push themselves to the edge and often over it. (I once tried to kill myself because my mother was dating a man I didn't like and I wasn't about to let him think he was going to be my dad -- even for a minute!!) I would have rather died than give an inch -- but in my 50s I have become the person I then despised. One by one, dreams die. The big ones go first, then the little ones. My heart is broken but I keep breathing. I now want simplicity. I want life to be easy, I want to be sheltered and comfortable, warm and dry, and I want to have enough money to spend on good food and beers at the pub. I don't like pain. I hate mosquitoes. I don't like to be cold. I traveled enough growing up to where it is no longer appealing (I was a military kid), although I do want to visit the UK someday, and maybe Arizona so I can see where I was born. I have become that useless person who is taking up space and using resources without giving much back. At least that's the way my younger self would have viewed me.

Anyway, Chris's story is one that will get you thinking, and thinking is good exercise.

More good articles:
The Cult of Chris McCandless (Men's Journal)
Death of an Innocent (Outside magazine)

Tags: McCandless - Alaska

Purrsday Night - It starts with Meow

Here's Henry captured on video in all his cuteness above. Pretty much his whole waking life is spent being affectionate, wanting attention and sometimes asking for food. This pic shows how Henry has tried communicating with us humans by creating artistic shapes or glyphs in his cat food. I wonder what it all means?

I want to finish up this post with another "Simon's Cat" animation that I think all cat slaves will able to relate to. Found on Cute Overload:


Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Artsy-Catsy on Sunday - Cats - Catblogging

Perfumigation

[LINK] Too much "fume" in the perfume. A young man passed out from his own homemade perfume fumes, caused a real stink and a scare in the neighborhood where they thought they'd found a meth lab. I'm glad it wasn't a meth lab, but don't know how dangerous a homemade perfume lab is, since I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having one before.

I read that book, "Perfume: story of a murderer," (also a movie that I haven't seen) and it really gave me the creeps... so I'm hoping this wasn't a case of of someone being inspired by the main character of that one! Gaaaahhh.

I wonder if he was hoping to make enough to sell it for income? Has to be too big a batch to use for oneself. I think, personally, I'd rather take my chances making wine or beer... and if it tastes bad, you can just use it for perfume. Call it "Eau de Barfly" or something.

This story caught my eye, because I have a similar one (with less panic and more laughs). My grandma was very fond of liniments, ointments, Vick's Vapo-Rub, Ben-Gay, anything with camphor, eucalyptus or other potent nose-openers. She used them liberally on her body and face, and all at the same time. Grandpa wouldn't let her buy a washing machine, insisting that "she already had one," referring to an antique wringer washer. Grandpa was one of the most frugal people in the world (more about him later in another post). Anyway, we all decided that we needed to visit the Laundromat for her. We had the stuff tossing in the dryer when the police showed up! Some concerned person had reported a very strange odor coming from one of the washers and suspected a gas leak. They poked around a bit, and of course didn't find anything and left. We didn't speak up. We might be bad citizens for that, but we knew what they were smelling and that it was nothing to worry about. So now we have an old story to tell about the time they called the police on grandma's smelly laundry.

The smoke-filled room

We attended our Precinct Convention (a.k.a. caucus, a.k.a. The Texas Two-Step) yesterday evening. Most people around here had never been to one of them before and of the ones who had, one man said that last time about 15 people showed up. At our polling place, there were easily 500 people there. We started out reasonably organized in a long line that left the building and snaked around the sidewalks and parking lot. It was obvious that all these people would not fit in the room, so they snaked the line through the building and back outside into the parking lot. Then they broke us up into two gangs: Hillary over here, Barack over there... so then it was getting a pep rally feel to it. It look a really long time before it was apparent that progress was being made at all, plus we had to move en masse whenever a car need to drive through, or when a car that was being used for a writing table drove away.

The Obama crowd was easily twice the size of the Hillary crowd, and both sides were vigilent in trying to make sure nobody cheated. About 8:00 pm the Republican caucus took place inside the building with what looked about a dozen people, but then there was no good reason for them to show up, unless it was to show their support for Ron Paul out of principle (and he gathered about 17% of the red vote locally).

My consolation on the Democratic results is that Travis County (where Austin is) went 2-1 for Obama, and some areas of Houston and Dallas were also very strong (and more I'm sure).

By any means necessary?

Rush Limbaugh "Why We Want to Keep Hillary Alive":
RUSH: We're already screwed. What we have to do is limit the being screwed to as small a screwdriver as it can be. And here. Here's the thing. The strategy is not to have these guys win. They may form a fusion ticket at some point down the road. Do you understand what the purpose of the strategery is?

CALLER: Yes. To keep Clinton in, to keep Clinton in. You think they're going to claw their eyes out.

RUSH: No, the strategy is... Yes. The strategy is to continue the chaos in this party. Look, there's a reason for this. Our side isn't going to do this. Obama needs to be bloodied up. Look, half the country already hates Hillary. That's good. But nobody hates Obama yet. Hillary is going to be the one to have to bloody him up politically because our side isn't going to do it. Mark my words. It's about winning, folks!

2 days ago, Bill Clinton was interviewed on Rush's show (by guest host Mark Davis) [Listen]. After all the righteous indignation from Hillary over Obama denouncing the support of Louis Farrakhan not being enough -- that it needs to be taken to the level of "reject" -- is this her showing an example of rejection of support? This is the height of hypocrisy. Rush has been urging the Republicans to crossover for Hillary, and it looks like it worked. Statistics show that ~5% more registered Republicans voted Democratic in this primary over the last Presidential Primary. That's enough of a bump to account for her win. And what about the Ann Coulter support? Where's the rejection of that? Where's the outrage? I like to take that wagging "Shame on you" finger of hers and wag it back at her, and I am being as respectful as I can here.

The outcome of this race really IS going to be decided in those proverbial smoke-filled rooms, where backs are scratched and the voters are uninvolved.

Tags: Clinton - Obama - Texas - Rush - Coulter

Kat Edmonson

I found this vid this morning. It's from Kat Edmonson, a local musician. It's called "Be the change that you want to see." I found it on the Obama blog, but it's really just generally socio-political on the visuals... lots of stuff that means something to most people reading this. NO speeches or anything really candidate-specific. Check it out.
We are going to have to go see her sometime.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Vote and Caucus on D-Day (delegate day)

Texas does have a screwy system for the Primary/Caucus, but the fact is that 126 delegates will be selected in the voting booth, and 67 more delegates (as many as a whole 'nother state!) will be selected through the caucus that begins when the polls close. I haven't been to a caucus before, but they say it's a matter of showing up, signing your name for your preferred candidate (an open process, not a hidden one), then hanging around or leaving, depending on your preference. So...

...what the hell is this supposed to mean?

[reference] In training materials being handed out by the Clinton campaign, it is clear that they want to control those caucus sessions. The materials say in part, "DO NOT allow the supporter of another candidate to serve in leadership roles."

It goes on to say, "If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness.

"The control of the sign-in sheets and the announcement of the delegates allotted to each candidate are the critical functions of the Chair and Secretary. This is why it is so important that Hillary supporters hold these positions."

If her campaign materials say that, then what a load of crap!! This may be a weird process, but there's no reason that it won't be conducted fairly. What is their intention of making sure they are in control? To cheat? Gimme a break!! If I sign my name on something, it damn well better show up in the correct column.

Hope vs. fear
These words that were meaningful, wise and true in 2004, are no less so today, on the eve of this vote.

Links found via POAC

Play MSTie for me

I used a free rental coupon (for a non-new movie) at Blockbuster to rent "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) with Vincent Price. It's the first movie version of the novel "I am Legend." The second movie version is "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston, and the third is the Will Smith version from last year.

I had read some glowing reviews of The Last Man on Earth, so I rented it not knowing that it was in Public Domain! You can watch the whole thing below, or download it at this site, where you can, apparently, legally download lots of public domain movies in various formats if you so desire. As for Last Man on Earth, we both disagreed with the glowing reviews. The good thing about it is Vincent Price, especially since there is narration in the movie, and you've gotta love his narration. Other than having Vincent Price, we both rated the movie as "MSTable". That means it would have been fodder for MST3K. The vampires were lame and laughable. Omega Man has a much higher cheeez factor, and I would recommend that one over this purely for style.


Thanks to this link you can watch some classic sci-fi, horror, and sword-and-sandals movies without wasting a free rental coupon on it. All that great old stuff you used to see on Friday night and Saturday morning TV, and since MST3K is gone you will have to come up with your own one-liners (unless you get some RiffTrax).

Backyard blogging

Caught this picture of a green anole. He was jumping from tree to tree, trying to impress his audience with his big red dewlap, and doing his best to avoid me.